“Some pursue happiness - others create it.”

I have sometimes wondered if the day will ever come when I will simply tire of music. Will those melodies that fill my head (and heart) start to annoy me and cravings for solitude and quiet win the battle for my attentions? Not likely… at least not in this lifetime. I have, after all never yearned for said seclusion but I have certainly longed for song. It’s funny but on those days when I forget to charge my iPod or a teleconference runs too long I begin to hear the music of the world around me. I fill in the musical gap with the sounds that surround me. Things like the staccato hiccup of my laptop’s cooling fan, or the cardinals in my apple trees. Even the urgent pleas of my son to stay up just ten more minutes, has a very certain musicality. I often make these correlations and like to think of them as music of the moment.

I guess I have a musical brain. Lucky thing too, since I don’t play a musical instrument proper I make my own music when I need it.

I was reminded of this last night as I walked around my neighbourhood WITH actual musical accompaniment. This recording was different though- Different, wonderful and so profound I have to tell you about it today. In fairness this is not a review per se but rather a wholehearted recommendation. The CD is called the Happiness Project (Arts & Crafts) by Charles Spearin. (He a founding member of Toronto band Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene.) This one literally stopped me in my tracks three times last night. I even walked twice the distance I normally do just so I could hear it again.

I wrestled though with how I would describe this experience because the discovery of this recording is intrinsically tied to its appeal. The sound of Spearin's project is somewhere between Ornette Coleman jazz and the spoken word of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Familiar voices looped to create an odd symphony through the interplay of storytelling and music. The results are riveting, heartwarming and profoundly original.

Trust me when I say this is a case of the less said the better. Quite simply, if you love music you need to hear this. The Happiness Project is brilliant and entirely unique. I can guarantee that is will move you in just about every way imaginable- Perfect food for the musical brain if you will.

PPPPP



http://www.happiness-project.ca/index.php